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| The cast of The Addams Family. Photo – Broadway in Louisville. |
The Addams Family
Book by Marshall
Brickman & Rick Elice
Music & Lyrics
by Andrew Lippa
Directed by Jerry Zaks
Review by Kathi E.B.
Ellis.
Entire contents are
copyright © 2013 Kathi E.B. Ellis. All rights reserved.
“Full Disclosure” –
Not having grown up in this country, The
Addams Family (television, movies, musical) is not a cultural reference
point for me. I do, of course, recognize the theme song and most of the
characters, thanks to commercials and trailers. But that’s it. On the other
hand, I have now seen this production twice: once on Tuesday at Whitney Hall,
opening night of the Broadway in Louisville engagement; and, earlier this year,
in Lexington’s jewel of an intimate opera house.
The show brings together
again the creative team for Jersey Boys,
seen here in 2012 (Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice, book; and Sergio Trujillo,
choreography), plus Andrew Lippa (music and lyrics). This production appears to
rely on the idea of “the Addams family” – that if characters look and sound
like the originals, audiences will like it. The songs are either a pastiche of
musical theatre or derivative – and whichever might be the case, not strong
enough to raise the production above the threads of a storyline; although the
performers’ commitment to the characters and situations does lift the material,
as does the energetic orchestra under the leadership of Nolan Bonvouloir. The
choreography is not as compelling as either of Mr. Trujillo’s Memphis or Flashback (both seen here in Louisville within the last year).
The audience was
delighted with the familiar opening chords of The Addams Family theme music – the only time that we explicitly
heard this until the curtain call at the end of the evening. Visually, the production
captures the world of The Addams Family,
echoing both the television series and the movie. Even casual viewers would
recognize the key members of the Addams household through excellent wigs,
make-up and costumes, while the scenic elements capture the kookiness of the
original. The family has also been reinforced by an ensemble of ancestors, from
various historic periods, whose presence does little to advance the slender plot.
The ten ensemble performers fill the stage with energy, from zomboid to
frenetic, which engages the audience during those musical numbers.
The primary
characters are both instantly recognizable and specifically different from the
original. Most strikingly, the daughter, Wednesday (Jennifer Fogarty), is
miraculously a teenager – with a boyfriend – the plot point that drives the
evening’s story. The Gomez of both movie and musical (Jesse Sharp in this
iteration) is now discernibly Latino, unlike John Astin in the television
series. Younger brother Pugsley (Connor Barth) is also older than his original
incarnation.
Mr. Sharp brings an
oversize presence to the production that is immediately charming. His improv
and comedy background clearly serve him well, as Gomez flips back and forth
trying to please Morticia and Wednesday and not get into hot water. Keleen Snowgren’s
Morticia is appropriately mordant and powerful – though the role is maybe a
little too PC to be absolutely in the spirit of the original. Ms. Fogarty’s
Wednesday is a petite dynamo determined to get her guy as well as torment
brother Pugsley; Mr. Barth brings a delightfully pugnacious attitude to his
role. Grandma (Amanda Bruton) and Fester (Shaun Rice) are solidly in the world
of the original; while at the same time Fester’s quest for the moon, “The Moon
and Me,” catapults the production into an overtly theatrical mode with puppets
and special effects – a number both charming and not in sync with the world of
the rest of the production. Dan Olson’s Lurch is a somber, wittily subversive
combination of awkwardly dislocated perambulations and, at one point, a
surprisingly fluid sequence following in the tradition of Dick Van Dyke. The
Beinecke family, whose son is Wednesday’s boyfriend, provides an apparently
middle-American foil to the Addams’ weirdness. We discover that love-interest Lucas
(Bryan Welnicki) takes a keen interest in things morbid, that apple-pie mom
Alice (Blair Anderson) can let down her hair in ways that only embarrass
teenage sons, and that solid dad Mal (Mark Poppleton) has an aging hippie side waiting
to escape.
There’s a whole lot
of production in this show, and not much plot. This energetic and appealing
company of young performers put a whole lot of heart and talent into a vehicle
that ultimately isn’t quite as good as they are.
The Addams Family
October 15-20, 2013
PNC Broadway in
Louisville
The Kentucky Center
501 West Main Street
Louisville, KY 40202
502-584-7777
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